Hundreds rally for the resurrection of public education

by jmaloni

Submitted

Wed, Mar 12th 2014 08:50 pm

Petition signed by
14,000 New Yorkers delivered to Gov. Cuomo calling for increased funding for
all schools, not just privately run charter schools

On Wednesday, hundreds
of students, parents and community members from across New York showed up at
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's door calling for the resurrection of their school's
programs, classes and resources, which have been cut over the past five years.
Participants delivered a petitionto Cuomo signed by 14,000 New Yorkers, calling for him to support all
students, not just the 3 percent who attend privately run charter schools.

Students from across the
state spoke out in the "War Room" of the Capitol, detailing what has been cut
in their schools and the opportunities they have missed out on.

"I am sick of being
marginalized by our state government just because of where I live," said Daniel Adamek, president of the Student
Council at Herkimer High School. "My socioeconomic status and ZIP code
should not affect the quality of education that I receive. Therefore, it is
time for youth to take action and fight for their right to equitable school
funding."

The day began with a
parade down the Concourse of the Empire State Plaza led by the Cohoes marching
band, which is threatened this year if an inadequate budget passes. Marchers in
the parade carried signs shaped like tombstones that read "R.I.P Music
classes," "R.I.P. After school programs," and other cuts to resources, programs
and staff.

"When I grow up, I want
to be a scientist, an artist and a musician. I like watching sports, but I like
playing them better," said Brayden
Lane, a 10-year-old student from P.S. 81 in Buffalo. "But my school
doesn't have any real music, sports or after-school programs so I can do
things. I know the solution. We need better resources. We need more in Buffalo,
and the governor could do way more to help."

Following the speak-out,
Zakiyah Ansari, advocacy director of
the Alliance for Quality Education and petition initiator, led the
delivery of a the petition to Cuomo's office. It calls for the governor to be
the "Governor of ALL New York's school children, not just the 3 percent who go
to privately run charter schools."

"I'm angry! Gov. Cuomo
claims to be the students' lobbyist, but his actions show that really he is
only lobbying for the 3 percent of students who attend privately run charter
schools," Ansari said. "It seems
that Gov. Cuomo is more concerned about appeasing his re-election campaign
donors, like the privately run charter school backers, than fulfilling his
constitutional obligation to all the students of New York. I won't take it, and
the thousands of public school supporters who signed the petition aren't taking
it either! Our public school students need and deserve a fair shot at a quality
education, and it starts with fully funding our schools."

"Gov. Cuomo has called
education the 'Civil Rights issue of our day,' and I could not agree with him
more," said Laurence Spring, superintendent
of Schenectady City School District. "It is for this reason that I
encourage him to immediately bring an end to funding inequities based on race. Too
many school districts are being underfunded to the point of denying students
the very basic services that they need.

"Like many other school
districts with high concentrations of minority students, Schenectady is
routinely denied 46 percent of the aid the law prescribes. This $62 million
annual shortfall results in dramatic overtaxing and significant lapses in
service for Schenectady's neediest children."

The petition kicked-off
after the governor attended a pro-charter school rally last week where he said,
"I am committed to ensuring charter schools have the financial capacity, the
physical space and the government support to thrive and to grow."

"As a parent in a
low-income community, I see every day the impact of underfunding education,"
said Maribel Toure, New York
Communities for Change Member (Hempstead). "Our children are not given
an equal opportunity to succeed. We need the governor to provide the funds that
our schools need. We need him to live up to his promise to provide every single
child in New York a high-quality education."

The Alliance for Quality
Education is calling for a $1.9 billion increase in school aid this year, which
its members say will prevent more cuts to schools this year and will get the
state back on track with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. During the last week
of February, AQE, along with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity project of the
Education Law Center, toured 14 school districts across the state, gathering
evidence of the systematic underfunding of schools in order to bring a potential
lawsuit against New York state for not meeting its constitutional obligation of
providing every student with a "sound basic education."

"Gov. Cuomo has ignored
the cries for help from New York's public schools," said Billy Easton, executive director of the
Alliance for Quality Education. "Enough is enough! This state has a
constitutional obligation to students, and if this budget continues to skirt
its responsibilities, we will not hesitate to take necessary action."